The Forgotten Kiss
by Lil Red Head Girl
Summary: Tenel Ka remembers a time with Jacen on the beaches of Hapes... Now edited and with chapter two on the way!


Hello everyone!! Its been QUITE a long time since I've uploaded anything on this website. I've just finished my first year of college and I have had a lot of downtime before beginning any sort of summer job and I found my old stories. I decided to edit everything to make them suit my current writing style. As much as I liked these stories when I first wrote them in sophomore year (now don't I feel old?), there are a bunch of things I wanted to tweak for my peace of mind. And while I'm at it, I'm in the process of finishing a chapter two for this story, which is the same thing from Jacen's point of view. Exciting, no? Well, it is for me. Maybe I can actually use writing as a productive way to spend my time instead of sleeping the day away. Anyways, have fun reading and don't forget to come back and read the second chapter when I get it up, which should be within the next few hours to next few days! And go read my other revamped fic, Now When The Rain Falls. Thanks!

* * *

The Forgotten Kiss

Wave after wave slapped against the rocks. A fine spray hit her face when the bubbling water met the slick stone of the palace, then ebbed back to where it had come. A sky strewn with stars looked back at her from where she looked out of her bedroom window. She was daydreaming again, thinking about when things were simpler for her, and everyone else in the galaxy for that matter.

Tenel Ka sighed and moved to sit at her vanity table. The table now held an array of crowns and precious gems, rather than her old tiara, and many more grooming products were cluttering the surface. The Queen Mother picked up her brush with her one hand and started at her hair. She absently began brushing her hair, starting to reminisce.

She had been staring at the cove where she, Jacen, Jaina, and Lowbacca swam and splashed about after her accident many years ago. She smiled faintly at the memory. Those days they had come to visit her were filled with precious memories. Some in that cove, some throughout the cavernous halls of Reef Fortress, some a little more intimate in number...

* * *

She had been drying herself off from her earlier excursion into the sea. She hadn't had so much fun since she had been incapacitated. But now, she was starting to wonder. Jacen had asked her to meet him back at the cove after evening meal. What his intentions were, she did not know. But for now, she had to wait.

As the day went on, Tenel Ka found herself growing more and more curious. She was anticipating this meeting more than anything she could remember. Her thoughts revolved about what he could be planning as she was coddled by her handlers, as she liked to call them. They were curling her hair and slathering makeup on her face and debating whether she should wear the turquoise blue dress or the royal blue dress. Finally, they decided which dress better suited her station and sent her off to dinner.

When she arrived in the formal dining hall that her grandmother insisted on using to show off to her guests, she met all of her friends. Well, all of them except Jacen. He apparently hadn't arrived yet. Jaina and Lowbacca started up a conversation, but Tenel Ka's attention kept flicking to the door.

Her grandmother demanded her attention for a few seconds, talking about the trivial matters of meeting some diplomat or another. Once she could tear herself away, she turned back to her friends to see that Jacen was standing in the doorway. He had a look of disbelief on his face. _He's probably still in awe of seeing me wear a dress. _She saw him smirk his lopsided smile of his. She had to force herself to turn away to keep herself from smiling.

Evening meal passed slowly, much too slowly for her liking. Many times she found herself glancing at Jacen, trying to find any indication of what he was intending. But she never found one. He was always looking the other way or intent on his food. She more than once was tempted to prod his mind with the Force, but she did not want to invade his privacy. Alright, she thought, I will wait.

After the meal was over, she started to her room to change from dreaded dress. She had made it to her room and her hand was on the doorknob, when her curiosity took over. She was finally going to find out what Jacen had been planning all day. She didn't want to make him, or herself, for that matter, wait any longer. She settled for ridding herself from the torture devices that some people called shoes. Tenel Ka left them next to her door and she turned back down the hallway and dashed to the beach, gown, fancy hair, and all.

By this time, the third of the Hapan moons had risen, casting soft moonlight over the sand. She left footprints in the wet sand as she searched for Jacen. The waves began to roll in, so she hiked up her dress, to ease her walking and to prevent the hem from getting soaked. The water that rolled over her feet was still warm from the unusually hot day that had just ended.

Plunk! A noise from her right startled her. There sat Jacen, staring off into the sea and tossing stones into the churning water at his feet.

"Jacen."

He looked up at the sound of her voice and smirked. He emptied his hands of the rest of the stones with a collection of plunks. Jacen stood up and brushed the sand from his hands.

His brandy brown eyes locked with her granite gray ones as he walked to where she stood with her dress fluttering about her feet. His eyes glittered with the hilarity of the joke he was likely about to voice.

"Nice dress, Princess."

A twinge of annoyance worked its way out. "You know that I don't like to be called by my title, Jacen."

"I know, but it's fun to annoy you sometimes." He must have felt her sudden urge to throw him in the sand despite her state of dress because he quickly changed the subject. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

Tenel Ka was puzzled. Just where was he going with this? "Certainly."

They both started off down the beach in reasonably comfortable silence. The silence was broken when Jacen started up again. "You know, it's really good to see you up and around again."

"What do you mean?"

"After...after the accident on Yavin 4, I didn't know whether I would see you again."

His voice sounded dejected. Full of sadness. Like he would never again be the happy-go-lucky boy that she knew.

He continued, "Then Uncle Luke told us that we were going to see you. I was so happy I couldn't think straight. Of course, I thought we were going to Dathomir, not to some royal palace. It was so surreal when we got here. Then, you come out of the palace to meet us, wearing," he stumbled over his words, "wearing a dress of all things. That really threw me for a loop. Then there was dinner tonight and I couldn't come up with anything interesting to say so I--"

By now, Tenel Ka had become completely lost and felt she had to cut him off. "Jacen, my friend, you are babbling."

Jacen collected his thoughts and began again. "Well, I guess what I'm trying to say is...I don't know what I'm trying to say."

"Take your time."

The pair had been walking along the coast, waves rolling over their feet as they traveled. The sand was silky beneath their bare feet, as both had shed their shoes before coming outside. Many stars were beginning to come out, sprinkled against the black sky.

Jacen led her over to a cluster of rocks close to the sea. He sat her down and told her, "What I'm really trying to do is apologize again."

"Jacen, we have been through this..."

"Yes, I know, it was your fault, inadequate lightsaber, all of that stuff. I just want you to know how much it scared me when it happened."

This was unexpected. "Scared?"

Jacen stood up again and started pacing. "Yes, scared. I honestly thought I killed you. I thought I hurt you so much that you would never come back to me. Us, I mean,"

"Why wouldn't I, Jacen?" How could he think that?

"I don't know, I thought that you would remember that you were sparring with me and I sliced your arm off. I thought you would wake up and hate me for it." Jacen was clearly upset by all of this, much more than she had previously thought.

"Jacen, come here," she called to him, summoning him to the rock next to her. She took his hand in hers and made him look her in the eye. "You know that I could never hate you. Especially never because of some silly thing like this. You are too good of a friend to give up, and I could not hope to be the same person without you in my life."

Jacen scooted closer to her on the rock. "You really mean that?"

"Of course I do, Jacen my friend."

He seemed convinced, but he still searched her gray eyes with his brown ones. His lovely brown eyes. Then suddenly, he leaned over and kissed her on the lips. Just for a second, but what a wonderful second it was.

He pulled away, looking petrified. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

"It is okay, Jacen." _It is definitely okay,_ she thought.

"Well, I'm gonna go inside now. Get some sleep. Big day tomorrow," he said quickly. He jogged towards the door in the palace wall. When he was halfway there, he looked back at her sitting on the same rock. He waved to her, which she returned with her one hand.

When the door had closed behind him, Tenel Ka closed her eyes, trying to still her fluttering heart. Jacen had been so worried about her. It was heartening.

And that kiss! Unexpected, but no less pleasant. Never in her life would she have thought that her heart would be pounding more from a simple kiss than from her most exacting physical workout. And yet, she found that she liked this feeling, much more than she ever would have expected. Tenel Ka let her mind unfocus as her thoughts drifted to the boy that had left her mind reeling on this beach. _That boy…no, young man, _she corrected herself, _is causing my mind to do strange things. And I'm not going to stop it._

She allowed herself to daydream for a few more moments, then she stood up and started her way back to her room.

Once she made it back inside and retrieved her shoes from outside of her door, Tenel Ka changed into her lizard hide armor and began getting ready for bed. Memories of that kiss would be in her dreams, she was sure. _Well, just let them come._

* * *

Tenel Ka shook herself out of her memories. That was one of the fondest memories that she held. No one but she and Jacen even knew about that meeting, let alone what took place.

Thinking back on it now, that was when she started falling in love with him. Yes, she admitted it now. She loved him, and now he was gone.

Dead, captured, no one knew. But no one but him could ever make her feel so alive. So loved. Tenel Ka would give anything to get him back.

Now, all she could do was wait. As Queen Mother, she couldn't go searching for him, but she would wait. Wait for any sign, either way. Dead or alive, he was still the boy, now man, she had fallen in love with out on those rocks.

Now, all she could do was wait. For him, she would wait an eternity. It was all she could give.


End file.
